I spoke about the continual presence of Buzzards in the June blog – well, it continued on into this month on a daily basis, no matter the weather. On one early evening I counted 16 of them flying above me and the house. I have never seen or heard that many before, possibly a field […]
We were lulled into false dreams of hot, sunny days after May’s sweet offerings but alas June was colder than average and all the fruit and vegetables suffered, as did the humans. Last year, in complete contrast, the same month was the hottest June since records began at some time in the late 1800s. A […]
This is the month when we all fall in love with Cornwall again and forgive it for the weeks and weeks of rain soaked dog walks in the howling winds. We still got plenty of that during this May but we also got the lush, verdant, energetic chaos of plants bursting out of the ground […]
April continued the general theme of the previous months – unsettled, wet and dull weather. The Easter holidays were a washout, but when the school children returned to their classrooms, the weather improved and the last 2 weeks gave us warmer and sunnier days. A bit rubbish for everybody on a family holiday. It remained […]
Still the rains continue to fall. The land was already saturated from a wet start to the year and March continued in the same vein by bringing double the average rainfall to Cornwall. And the sun never really showed up. As the MET Office said, ‘March will go down as a wet and dull month.’ […]
‘Pansies, lilies, kingcups, daisies, Let them live upon their praises, There’s a flower that shall be mine- ‘Tis the little celandine.’ Wordsworth liked the Celandine so much he wrote 3 poems about them. This month saw the emergence of these flowers in clumps, all over the field and hedges. It has heart shaped glossy leaves […]
When Storm Jocelyn hit our shores this month, we gained a new landmark in UK history – it was the 10th named storm in 5 months, the earliest moment in a year in which that number has been reached, since its introduction in 2015. In a nutshell, this means we are experiencing many more serious […]
Winter showed its true colours for a moment at the start of the month, surprising us with hard frosts. The car doors became frozen, unable to open, and fingers aching from cold. Minus 4.7 up the road at Culdrose, not quite the minus 12.5 experienced in Sutherland but cold enough to warrant getting out […]
Two exciting moments came in this month; firstly the sightings of a large White Barn Owl in our field and secondly the arrival of Fungi in the shape of Chanterelles (I think) and Heath Waxcaps. This is the first time a White Barn Owl has returned to our field since our very own, live-in Owl […]
The warmth stayed with us for the first half of the month with temperatures in the low twenties across England. We harvested baskets and boxes of Squash, Corn, Apples and Medlars, alongside the continual pickings of Chard and Spinach. Jams and chutneys were produced and this year we added a Medlar cheese to our […]
I ended the August blog with a line about a chill descending on us, heralding the change of season from Summer to Autumn. How wrong I was – September brought us day after day of hot weather. More in line with the heat in the month of June than the sad, wet days of […]
During this month the terrible weather has been talked about endlessly, almost as if it has been a surprise. A miserable month with almost continuous rain, two major storms, (Antoni and Betty), lots of thunder and lightening and wild , ‘unseasonably windy weather’ (MET). But August has always been a wet weather month – I […]
Over the years that I’ve been here, I have occasionally spotted a White Pheasant in the woods down the lane from our field. More recently, on rare occasions, I have spotted two together but ever elusive they always disappear within seconds, well before me and my camera are ready. Imagine my delight when every […]
As I departed Cornwall for the shores of Shetland at the beginning of June, the weather finally settled and moved into being the hottest June since 1884. Records broke in Culdrose just up the road from where I live at 32.2C and in Shetland it had the lowest temperature at 10.2 C. What a magnificent […]
May came galloping in, bringing appalling weather, floods a plenty, cold nights, No Mow May, Dawn chorus Day, Flower Moon, Beltane, (or May Day), hedgerows dripping with blooms, grasses of all shades, hungry birds and homeless bees. In 2006 the poet Wendy cope wrote a poem about this month. ‘The month of May, the merry […]